All These Strange, Strange Creatures
by Hinn-Raven
Summary: A little black cat follows Conner home from school. Artemis thinks it will make a wonderful pet, and adopts it. Wally disagrees. Chaos ensues. Slight Spitfire and Supermartian.


**A/N: To be perfectly honest, this story was not planned at all. It was weird. I was filling something on the Young Justice Anonymous Meme, and I was working ahead, and a small scene appeared, where Conner had a cat follow him home. Next thing I knew, the cat was causing shenanigans all over the place. So he got his own story.**

**I hope you enjoy it! Please leave me a review!**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Young Justice, do you think I would be so impatient for the episodes to get aired?**

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><p><span>All These Strange, Strange Creatures<span>

Artemis sat, sprawled on the couch, laughing to herself as she pursued a trashy magazine that her mother had bought yesterday, declaring that Artemis needed some cheering up.

And Artemis had to agree, reading crack-filled articles about Superman and Captain Atom's love affair and Batman and Wonder Woman's secret love-child known as Robin were the perfect antidote for all forms of depression.

"Do I get to read that when you're done?" Robin asked as Artemis started howling in laughter over speculation about Red Arrow having a plastic surgery to change his gender.

"Sure thing," she managed, knowing that it was probably a bad idea, but right now, she was in too good a mood to care.

She glanced at the Boy Wonder, who was in civvies, cheerfully perched on a stool, watching her with an amused expression. Behind him, crouched very low, ready to pounce, was a small black kitten.

"Hey, when did we get a cat?" she asked.

Robin turned around quickly, but in the flurry of movement, the cat managed to disappear. "What cat?"

Artemis looked around, positive that there had been a tiny black ball of fur a few seconds ago. "_That_ cat," she said, pointing at the counter across from Robin. How the cat had managed to transport him (her?)-self over there in the small time-span was beyond her, but she had long ago become accustomed to people in her life having the ability to appear and disappear at will (Robin, Batman, and Jade, just to name a few).

Robin spotted it this time, much to Artemis's relief. (She was _so_ not in the mood for one of those _one person spots a thing that no one else seems to be able to notice and everyone thinks he/she is crazy until the end of the episode/chapter/film/story when it turns out that thing was real all along_ things.)

"Um… I thought you were looking behind me," Robin said, walking over to the cat, which ignored him, jumped off the countertop, and walked towards Artemis.

"I was. Maybe your secret twin got polymorphed into a cat?" Artemis said, raising an eyebrow and closing her magazine.

"Oh, ha-ha," Robin muttered, picking up the cat. "Hmm. It's a boy."

"You've ruined his dignity," Artemis said as she straightened up, watching the cat squirm in Robin's grip.

"Oh, I've had lots of practice ruining a cat's dignity, believe me," Robin said with a grin.

"Why?"

"Catwoman," Robin said in lieu of a full explanation.

"Ah," Artemis said, smiling as she watched the Boy Wonder struggle with his grip on the cat. Eventually, the kitten successfully twisted out of Robin's hold, and leapt towards Artemis.

Artemis started petting the cat absently, thinking about the cats that Jade had used to keep. Jade had _loved_ cats. Strays were always following her home, which would drive their nuts. They'd never be allowed to stay in the apartment, for fear of what their father would do to the cats, but the fire-escape outside had been a great place to hide the dishes, which Jade would fill with the food that her scant allowance would allow her to purchase (or, more often than not, steal.)

"Where do you think it came from?" Robin said, raising an eyebrow as he watched his teammate devolve into memory-world.

"It followed me home," Superboy said, walking by. "It was weird. I barely even noticed it until M'gann and I got home."

"Quite a little ninja we've got here," Robin said, reaching over to scratch the kitten's ears. "Hey, how 'bout that? Ninja."

"Good name for a black cat," Artemis agreed, listening to him purr. "Hey Conner, mind if I keep this one?" Mom wouldn't mind. Mom had always helped Jade and Artemis hide the signs of the cats from their father.

Conner shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

* * *

><p><em>Day One AN (After Ninja)<em>

M'Gann was stirring her new batch of chocolate chip cookies, trying to levitate the milk over without stopping stirring, when she met the new pet.

After adding the milk, she dipped a finger in, adjusting her taste buds to suit that of a human. Salt, she decided. It needed salt. She set down the bowl and tried to remember where the salt was. The organization of the kitchen was… complicated, to say the least. Wally had tried to organize everything according to the periodic table, while Artemis just threw things wherever she thought they belonged. Robin, on the other hand, preferred to sort the ingredients by color, but Superboy attempted to keep things together by how often they were needed. Kaldur tried to organize according to what type of recipe would require what condiment, and M'Gann had long since given up on any attempt of organization.

Deciding that Artemis's stir-fry had been the last thing that someone other than herself had attempted in the kitchen, she opened the cupboard closest to the stove with her mind, and checked if the salt was in there. Finding no sign of the sodium chloride, she checked in the one on the opposite side, where she located it.

She turned around, calling the measuring devices with her telepathy, only to discover a strange _thing_ in her cookie batter.

The _thing_ was small, with a long tail, and pointy ears. Underneath the layers of cookie dough and chocolate chips, M'gann decided that it was black. Bright green eyes stared out at her, and the thing made a small noise that sounded like "_Mew!"_

She glanced at it, quickly running it through her knowledge of Earth creatures. Oh, _hello_ Megan! It was a cat! M'gann frowned. When had a cat arrived at Mount Justice?

"Hello," she said, leaning forward, "Who're you?"

"M'gann?" Artemis said, leaning into the kitchen. "Sorry to bother you, but have you seen—" she stopped short. "Ninja!"

"What?" M'gann said, as Artemis scooped up the cat, regardless and uncaring of the cookie dough that covered the creature (and now her), cooing softly at it.

"Oh, you haven't met him yet?" Artemis said, "M'gann, this is Ninja, my new pet cat."

"Nice to meet you," M'gann told the cat. Artemis laughed.

"He followed Conner home yesterday, and then sort of latched on to me," the girl said, grabbing one of M'gann's washcloths and attempting to remove the cookie dough from her pet. Grabbing another, M'gann came over to help. She mentally shook her head at her boyfriend's habit of bringing home strays.

"Did you take him home?" she asked her Earth-sister.

"Not yet. We need to get him checked for rabies and things before my mom will let him in the apartment. So he's staying here until then. It might be for a week or so."

"Well, he's sweet," M'gann said, giggling as Ninja started purring, despite the indignity of the cookie dough and his impromptu sponge bath.

* * *

><p><em>Day Two AN<em>

Wally was _hungry_. Yeah, he was hungry a lot, but _still_. Lunch today at school had been _pizza_ day, which meant that there weren't any extras for him to beg off of the lunch ladies, which meant he'd only had two helpings, which meant that he was _starving_, especially since he hadn't had time to stop home before coming here. There weren't any missions, but training with Black Canary was today, and he was eager to get back to work now that his cast was off.

Luckily, M'gann had taken pity on him and told him that she'd just made chocolate chip cookies last night.

He dashed into the kitchen, and tore open the door where M'gann hid the cookie jar.

And that's when _the monster_ struck.

A _huge_, black monstrosity with claws and teeth and burning green eyes filled with hatred and raw fury launched itself out of the cupboard, scratching at his face and _howling_ a battle shout as it did so. Crying out, he flung the _creature_ as far away from himself as possible, preparing for a battle of epic proportions with the meta-creature.

Glowering at the monster, he dashed forward, regardless of his empty stomach, grabbing one of M'gann's pans to hit it with. The creature clearly detected that this was a fight that it could not win, and took flight, towards the door, when Artemis walked in. The monster leapt at her, clearly in an attempt to tear her to shreds with its claws the size of kitchen knives and claws of steel, so Wally dashed forward, ready to heroically rescue the archer from the monster's fierce claws and teeth, only to find her glaring at him.

"What are you doing?" demanded Artemis loudly, clutching the _creature_ tightly to her chest. Wait, _what?_ "_Why_ were you attacking my cat?"

_Cat?_ Wally thought, looking closely. Oh. A cat. Not a meta-creature. Not a dragon-spawn. Not one of the bats that Di—Robin, had told Wally inhabited the bat cave. A cat. That belonged to Artemis. That she had discovered threatening with a large pan.

Oh crud.

"That _thing_ attacked me!" he protested, gesturing to it with the pan.

"Uh huh," Artemis said, shooting him a _not impressed_ look. "And you attack a creature less than one-sixth your size with a _pan_, because…"

"It leaped out at me and tried to eat my face!" Wally said, shocked that Artemis was completely oblivious to the bloody mess that his face must be after that horrible attack.

Artemis raised an eyebrow. That simple expression was so easy to read, and it was one of the _many_ reasons that he hated her. "Your face looks perfectly fine to me," she said, walking out.

Wally dashed to the bathroom, and checked the mirror. There was no sign of any wounds that the cat had made during its ambush. Clearly, Wally's superspeed had kicked in, healing the wounds.

Wally West decided right then and there, that he would be revenged on the cat. Even if it was the last thing he ever did.

* * *

><p><em>Week 2 AN<em>

J'ohnn examined the base, wondering where exactly the Team had wandered off too. He really hoped that they hadn't gone off on another unauthorized mission. Those tended to end with him being forced to explain things to M'gann that she understood perfectly well, but chose to ignore.

It was at times like this that he wondered if he should have sent M'gann back to Mars as soon as he found her.

He glanced in the kitchen, finding no M'gann, but a small black cat. This must be the cat that M'gann had mentioned earlier. "Ninja," he believed Artemis had named him.

"Hello," he said to the creature solemnly. "I do not suppose you have seen M'gann?"

The cat tilted its head to one side, staring into his eyes. An image filled him mind. One of M'gann and Superboy dressed as civilians, carrying backpacks.

"Oh," he said. "But they should be back by now, surely."

Ninja simply looked at him with the familiar contempt that all cats were able to use so easily, and then began to wash his paws.

"A date?" he said, slightly surprised that he understood the cat. Cats were not supposed to be able to communicate with humans. But then again, he was hardly human.

The cat looked at him, as if saying "What do you _think_?" and then resumed bathing himself.

J'ohnn tried to remember if M'gann had received the Martian version of "the talk" yet.

* * *

><p><em>Week 3 AN<em>

Black Canary waited for Kid Flash to strike again. The boy was impatient, but getting better. Now that his arm was mended, it was time for him to get fully involved again.

He dashed forward, attempting to punch her at super-speed, without as much as a feint to attempt to distract her. She would really have to work on him about that… she thought idly as she ducked under his punch and swept his feet out from under him, sending him sprawling. The boy got to his feet, and charged again.

Preparing herself for her counterattack, she failed to notice the tiny black streak that wove between the speedster's legs at a critical moment until Wally was sent face first into the floor. "Fail, Kid Flash," the computer droned.

"I am going to kill you!" Wally yelled at the cat, taking off after it, completely uncaring about his training now. The cat dashed through the door, with Wally close behind it.

Black Canary straightened, listening as Wally yelled obscene things at the cat, followed by Artemis demanding to know why he was attempting to murder her pet.

"That _thing_ tried to kill me!" Wally protested.

"This is the _second_ time you've tried to kill him," Artemis yelled back. "Why don't you like him?"

"I don't like _him_? _It_ hates _me!_"

Dinah considered interfering. Then she decided that this was none of her business.

She decided to go see if Superboy was ready for training.

* * *

><p><em>Week 5 AN<em>

Conner stared at the static as he sat on the couch, deep in thought.

Behind him, M'gann and Artemis were talking. He was trying not to listen. Super hearing was useful on missions and the like, but it was annoying when he ended up eavesdropping on conversations that he either didn't want to or wasn't supposed to hear. He wished he could turn it on and off at will, like Superman was supposed to be able to.

No. No. He wasn't Superman. It didn't matter. It didn't.

He didn't care that Superman still barely acknowledged his existence, despite Batman and Black Canary's reassurances that the man who he held above all others would come around. That the man who he aspired to be could barely stand to stay in the same room as him, or that every time that the Man of Steel ended up seeing the Team, he always turned his attention to Artemis or Kaldur or Robin or M'gann or Wally instead of him.

He certainly didn't care that Superman had recently given an interview, in which he had once again reiterated that he was the "last Kryptonian." Did the fact that his DNA was present in Superboy really not matter to him? Didn't he get it? He wasn't the last one. Superboy existed, and the Kryptonian blood flowed within him. What was so wrong with him? Why didn't Superman care?

He clutched the side of the couch so tightly, he was probably denting it. No. He was _not_ going there again. He was _not_ going to wallow in self-pity. He didn't need Superman. He didn't.

"Meow," offered the small black cat that had followed him home one day. "Meow?" The cat sat down on his lap, and looked at him, as if saying, _well, get on with it._

He raised a hand and _very gently_ started moving it up and down the cat's soft black back. A strange sound started emerging from Ninja, magnified by Conner's hearing, sending strange vibrations down through his bones. He kept stroking the cat, a small smile appearing as he did so.

He released the couch with his other hand, and started trying to work out how to pet Ninja with two hands. Eventually, however, he opted for letting Ninja nuzzle his left hand while petting Ninja with his right. Ninja approved of this method, judging from the noise he was emitting.

Conner sat there for ages, just petting a cat, Superman long forgotten.

* * *

><p><em>Week 6 AN<em>

Kaldur was not certain if he approved of the latest addition to their Team. The black cat was not useful in battle, unlike Wolf, and nor was it intelligent, unlike Sphere or Supercycle, as Wally and Robin had taken to calling it. Even though Wally was insisting that the cat was intelligent enough to have a vendetta against him, Kaldur had seen no evidence of this. He was pretty sure that "Ninja" had no more intelligence than the average cat.

However, Kaldur had no experience with felines.

So he was not sure if a cat riding on a wolf was perfectly normal. But Ninja was. Perched on top of Wolf's head, radiating smugness, was the little black cat.

Even if it was normal, however, he decided that perhaps he should tell M'gann. She had taken to photography lately, and this seemed like one of the things she would want to take a photo of.

_Week 9 AN_

Ollie wasn't comfortable visiting the cave, he'd admit it. Artemis was a great kid, and a great protégé, but it was uncomfortable having to pretend that she was his niece. He knew it bothered her too, although he supposed it was easier than admitting her blood relations to the Team.

Sportsmaster had a kid. Well, the world was a weird place indeed.

He was sitting on the couch, waiting for the Team to return from their mission. He was supposed to take Artemis on patrol tonight. The kid had been itching to explore Star City, and he figured that as long as she stayed out of sight things would be fine.

Problem was, they were late.

And Dinah was getting nervous. She was pacing back and forth, throwing glances at the computer read-out, as if wondering when something bad would appear on it.

"Calm down Dinah," he said. "The kids will be fine."

She threw him a _look_.

Suddenly, that cat of Artemis's that he had met once or twice (what was its name, Pirate? Ninja?) dashed through the room, with something firmly in his mouth. He leapt up onto the couch, into Oliver's lap, where it dropped an arrow.

Ollie picked it up. It was red-tipped, and with a hard edge. Just like…

"Give that back you stupid cat!" Roy yelled, rushing in. He skidded to a halt, noticing his former mentor and adoptive father standing there, holding his arrow, with the kleptomaniac cat on his lap.

"…Roy," Ollie finally said.

"Ollie," Roy responded after a long, tense silence.

After another pause, in which Ollie tried to think of what to say, (_I'm sorry for not being able to convince Batman to treat you like an adult? I'm sorry that _I_ didn't treat you like an adult? I'm sorry?) _He settled for offering Roy his arrow. With a loud _meow_, Ninja seized the weapon and bolted with it in his mouth, taking refuge within Black Canary's arms.

The cat glared at Roy, and then at Ollie. What scared Ollie even more than that glare was the fact that Dinah was doing the exact same thing. She gently took the arrow out of Ninja's mouth, and held it firmly in her grip. "No conversation, no arrow," she told Roy flatly. She threw Ollie a look that informed him that if _he_ didn't have conversation with his son, he would _not_ be taking her to dinner that night.

"How've you been?" he asked, forcing himself to look his boy in the eye.

"Pretty good," Roy said after a beat. "Been keeping busy. It's different, free-lancing."

"How's it been working out? I heard about the Taipei incident from Aqualad's official reports, but that didn't tell me much." Ollie didn't want to admit that the only reason he'd read the report in the first place was to see if there was any mention of how Roy was. The boy had been avoiding him like the plague, especially since he'd taken Artemis on as his protégé.

Roy seemed to notice that he was interested, and started telling Ollie about Sportsmaster and Cheshire and Luthor, which led to Ollie sharing stories about his own encounters with Luthor both in and out of costume.

An hour later, when the Team returned, they found the former partners laughing at one of Ollie's jokes, the arrow left on the floor between them where Dinah had set it down.

* * *

><p><em>Week 13 AN<em>

Robin was doing what he did best—besides acrobatics and hacking, that is. Sneaking. He was one with the shadows, just like Batman. Just one with the darkness, an unseen force, ready to lash out at any moment, when the enemy—or Wally—least expected it. Even in the well-lit base, Robin could find a million ways to hide himself in any room. Right now, he was perched in a small nook that he had found in the hallway, waiting for Wally to fall into his latest trap; a bucket of brightly colored marbles spread over the floor. Environment Awareness Exercise, he'd told Kaldur when he told the leader to stay clear of this hallway for the day.

Ninja was perched beside him, bright green eyes glistening in the darkness. _How_ the cat had managed to follow him up here, he wasn't sure, but he wasn't complaining. His fellow ninja was good company while he waited for the test to begin.

Sure enough, his best friend soon started been heard, clearly drawn to the smell of Conner's lasagna coming from the kitchen. Robin covered his mouth with his hands, resisting the urge to giggle. This was too easy.

Sure enough, Wally, to absorbed in the smell of food, failed to notice the colorful tiny orbs spread over the ground, and managed to make a beautiful spectacle with his flailing. Robin smirked, glad that the security cameras were preserving this amusing event for later.

"Meow," Ninja remarked calmly from right beside Wally's current, sprawled out state on the floor.

"It was _you!_" Wally screamed, scrambling to his feet, clearly forgetting the marbles already—once again, he was sent sprawling. "Why you filthy little overgrown rodent, Artemis won't be able to save you this time!"

It took all five of super-hero experience to keep Robin from completely losing it. This was amazing.

"Meow," Ninja repeated, watching as Wally attempted to get up again. Attempt being the key word here, as Wally once again slipped on the marbles.

"When I get out of here, I'm going to turn you into a new set of sneakers!" Wally threatened. "You are going to be _so_ dead, not even a Lazarus pit can bring you back!"

The cat seemed to sigh, and turned away, tail high in the air as he walked away. Not even in a rush to get away from the undignified speedster.

"I'll get you!" Wally screamed, on his feet now. "I'll get you!" Unfortunately for him, Ninja was walking through the marbles, which meant that he had to hop through them only slightly faster than the average human.

Once he was sure that Wally was out of range, Robin allowed himself a full on laugh that lasted for over a minute. That cat was amazing.

* * *

><p><em>Week 16 AN<em>

Wally was having a staring contest with Ninja. "So."

The cat meowed, as if to say "So," right back at him.

"I'm dating Artemis now," he said solemnly. "This means that you are going to have to share cuddling with her."

The cat made a sound that he swore sounded like name calling.

"Hey!" he protested. "I'm having a conversation with a _cat_ about my girlfriend. I think it's perfectly acceptable for this to be awkward!"

The cat started washing his paws in a matter-of-fact manner.

"Anyways…" Wally said, rubbing his neck. "What I'm trying to say is… we got off on the wrong foot. Feet. Whatever. But now, I've kind of got a vested interest in not pissing Artemis off by killing you, and vice versa. So what do you say? Truce?" He offered his hand to the cat, feeling ridiculous as he did so.

Ninja looked at him with those very bright green eyes, and then placed a paw on Wally's hand. And then another. And then, slowly, the cat walked along Wally's arm until he rested on his shoulder, and gave Wally's face a single, but very rough, and yet very friendly lick on the cheek.

Artemis walked in half an hour later, to see her boys cuddling on the couch. She smiled, and sat down next to Wally, stroking Ninja as she set her head down on Wally's shoulder.

Settled happily between the couple, Ninja purred.

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><p><strong>AN: Thank you for reading,**

**Hinn-Raven**


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